Warning: This is an Old Shame so old that this page was originally in the Troper Works namespace and is no longer maintained. Here be monsters.
A Fantasy Ghetto series by Snow Fox Of Death. It may soon have to be recycled in an Urban Fantasy for marketing reasons. The current genre is somewhere between a medieval version of Wuxia and Low Fantasy.
A long time ago, thirty gods and goddesses got bored and created the world. They named it Ruenia and filled it with animals, plants, and intelligent beings. Then, five of their own betrayed them. They were banished to hell, but to ensure that they would never rise again, the gods sealed themselves into the spirit world. Forever. And they meant it. But they didn't leave Ruenia completely defenseless against chaos. They handpicked members of the mortal races, clerics, to channel the powers of the gods and take care of things.
Arane and her adopted younger brother Lartol are servants for the lord of her village, trying to act as normal as possible. Her friend Lini and a stranger named Wylfing persuade them to leave home because some serious issues have arisen: Arane is a cleric, she is half-Hyra, and the Resistance needs them to help battle a demon accidentally summoned by the king fifty years ago in a desperate attempt to resurrect his wife who died in childbirth. This demon, called the Soul Thief, kills people and steals their souls before they can enter the spirit world. It is known that while he is forced to consume some of them in order to remain in the mortal world, he also stores some away for some sinister purpose.
With the help of Arane's necklace containing the consciousness of the goddess Kitsune, the group meets up with Wylfing's brother Phoebus and Lini's twin sister Lumi and then recover one of the two scrolls that will help banish the Soul Thief to hell.
Once they return to the Resistance, which has taken refuge in the elven forest, Arane meets Wylfing's elder sister and leader of the Resistance, Evangeline. She also finds Damie, a pure-blood Hyra who is her half-brother. He reveals that she really owes her loyalty to the Order of the Spirit Keepers, founded by her mother when information she found for the Resistance was condemned as lies.
Arane's struggle to keep both the Order and the Resistance happy, the True Companions being sent around Ruenia for various reasons, her progression as a competent magic user and fighter, and Wylfing's obsession with lifting his curse while trying to figure outwhy he is attached to Arane so much as her surprising amount of sympathy and naive affection for him turn his entire mindset upside down are main plot points. Later, it is revealed that Arane's human blood significantly weakens her ability to control her magic, so she must be kept stable so she doesn't get destructive. The Soul Thief finds out and responds by Mindraping Lartol into suicide to set off Arane's insanity, and she's never quite the same again.Snow Fox Of Death indulges in several Take Thats, Shout Outs, and Affectionate Parodies of works she is well acquainted with along the way (regardless of hate or love). These include The Inheritance Cycle, The Legend of Zelda (particularly Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess), Twilight, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Graceling, Code Geass, The Picture of Dorian Gray, His Dark Materials, The Catcher In The Rye, Peanuts, Death Note, Wolf's Rain, Princess Tutu, The Hunger Games, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Most of these works influenced Ice Heart in some way, shape, or form.
The first chapter is scheduled to be posted on fictionpress.com sometime in January or February when the first book is edited after the NaNoWriMo frenzy, but most of the books are already planned out. The Character Sheet is under construction.
The order of the books will be:
Always Save the Girl: Wylfing is devoted to Arane. Risaki's first husband, Damian, interfered with a teleportation spell to save his wife and unborn child, but earning himself Cold-Blooded Torture. His own son, Damie, offers to do anything if the Soul Thief lets Lumi go. He loses his eyes and the Soul Thief doesn't go through with the deal.
Artifact of Death: The Death Scroll obtained in the first book was written by Orphus, the King of the Dead.
Because Destiny Says So: Played with because prophecies conflict with each other and nobody knows which one is right until it's too late. This is because the Oracle is possessed by the Soul Thief, who wants to make sure that it's hard for people to find out how he can be defeated.
Beware the Nice Ones: Just for example, Lumi is a total ditz but is one of the most powerful clerics. Midoka, Arane's aunt, is usually very docile but has a few too many Berserk Buttons.
Book Dumb: Arane and Lartol. Then again, they never knew how to read.
Break the Cutie: They're not picky about it, either. Even the Big Bad has a sad story, but his psychotic actions sort of makes us feel a little less sorry for him.
Butt Monkey: Phoebus suffers much abuse from his brother.
Canis Latinicus: When the author needs to make up a word, she mangles some Latin.
Cheerful Child: Lartol; Arane and Wylfing in their younger days.
Evil Counterpart: Arane and the Soul Thief. The most obvious trait they share is the fact that they are both half-bloods (when the Soul Thief was alive, at least) and their similar attitudes, but then we see that Shiro had a little sister who he killed to lighten his burden, but regretted it so much he started collecting souls to offer the King of the Dead in order to bring her back to life. Arane, on the other hand, loved Lartol and kept him around. Mioku is Wylfing's counterpart: both love Arane, but Mioku is a creepy obsessed stalker who joins the dark side because he was deluded into thinking the Soul Thief would give her to him while Wylfing's love is usually shown as mostly pure. Mostly.
Evil Is Sexy: Mioku, the vampires, the Vrylupi, and a flashback in the Soul Thief's life.
Fainting: This will happen to Arane and Lartol if they get too warm.
Fate Worse than Death: If you don't let your wolf side take over your body, this is what happens if you decide to live as a werewolf.
The First Cut Is the Deepest: Throughout Wylfing's relationship with Erina, he felt guilty about Arane. Damie telling him that making his sister cry is unforgivable did not help.
The Ice People: Hyra magic is based around ice and snow, because that's what they live in. They're not exactly friendly, either.
Invisible to Normals: You can't read Death Scrolls unless you 1) Have a soul 2) Have been beyond the Spirit Gate. In other words, only werewolves, vampires, and necromancers.
Kill It with Fire: One of Arane's powers is manipulating fire that freezes instead of burns. Played a bit more straight is the Soul Thief's Hell Fire.
La Résistance: What do you think? The Order of the Spirit Keepers is the resistance within a resistance, though they have similar goals, just differing views.
Like Brother and Sister: Arane's excuse for turning down Wylfing, but it's partly because he's getting really creepy.
Morality Pet: Lartol is a universal morality pet. So is Arane, to some extent, but she is mainly Wylfing's.
Muggles: They're actually quite common when the heros travel around. Unfortunately, they tends to attract attention.
Near Death Experience: If you get bitten by a werewolf, the god Sirius offers you a chance to live before letting you die. Likewise if you are bitten by a vampire with the goddess Avia.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Arane accidentally leads Wylfing to the meeting place of the Order, resulting in his imprisonment. She frees him later, but is ordered to have him killed. After her feeble attempts to modify his memory, she is forced to go into hiding for five years.
Noble Fugitive: Evangeline, Phoebus, and Wylfing, because they joined the Resistance.
Only I Can Kill Him: The Soul Thief wants to kill Arane after taking her blood for the Elixir of Life. Mioku wants Wylfing so he can take Arane because the Soul Thief tricked him into thinking there was a loophole that could allow her to live.
Overly-Long Name: When you have the official title for a member of the royal family, because they usually hold several positions at once.
Pet the Dog: Wylfing does this occasionally, and more once he starts being friends with Arane.
Parental Substitute: Wylfing mentions that several servants were ordered to take care of him.
Prophetic Names: Wylfing's mother gave him that name before she died. In Real Life, it is an alternate spelling of "Wulfing" which means "wolf clan". He ends up leading an entire troop of werewolves in the Resistance.
She Is Not My Girlfriend: Wylfing about Arane when he meets Erina, but confesses that he wishes it weren't like that. Wylfing starts doing this with Erina. Jealousy ensues.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Arane and Erina, and Lini when you consider that Phoebus is really a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold. Lumi and Damie.
Take That: Word Of God says that the elves in Ice Heart are parodies of the elves in The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. She strongly dislikes the series to the point of writing a critical essay of Eldest for English class. This also causes the existence of Screw You, Elves! and Lampshaded cases of Can't Argue with Elves. See also Your Monsters Suck below.
Teach Me How To Fight: Arane asks Kitsune and Lumi for training in magic. She also makes Wylfing teach her how to fight with a blade after he kicks her ass.
Tear Jerker: The author is a sick little bitch who delights in writing these.
Teleporters and Transporters: Magic can be used to set up a portal. However, they usually drop you within ten miles of your intended location.
Tell Me About My Parents: Wylfing bugged his siblings about it when he was younger. Damie asked Risaki questions about his father because they didn't really have a lot of time together.
Time Skip: The last book takes place five years after where the third left off. The other books do this by a margin of a few months.
What Beautiful Eyes: Arane's main reason for making Wylfing stop hiding his face behind his hair all the time. He rightly claims that his emotions are too easily read.
What the Hell, Hero?: Evangeline makes some... ruthless decisions at times. Some of Arane's rashness tends to produce this response, as well as some of Wylfing's more cruel actions taken for the sake of logic.
When It All Began: Wylfing's birth, Nimue's death, and the king trying to bring her back.
Your Monsters Suck: The author hates Twilight and made an effort of making her own vampires and werewolves closer to the classic myths. The wings, she claims, are just to make them Crazy Awesome.
